The International Journal of Business Management and Technology, Volume 2 Issue 3 May-June 2018 ISSN: 2581-3889
Research Article
Open Access
Volatility, Firm Size and Economic Growth: Evidence from Chinese Stock Market Dongmei Lee School of Mathematical Sciences, Shanxi University PO box 030006, No.92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, P.R.China
Weiqi Liu Faculty of Finance and Banking, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics PO box 030006, No.696 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, P.R.China
Yuxin Tian School of Economics and Management, Shanxi University PO box 030006, No.92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, P.R.China
Abstract: Forecasting real economic growth by using the information contents of financial asset prices is one of the main themes in financial studies in recent years. Based on the micro-level stock data from Shenzhen Stock Exchange Market, the paper constructs a cross-section volatility measure using sample stocks, investigates the impact of stock price volatility on economic growth, and forecasts economic growth with stock prices volatility of different firm size. The empirical results indicate that stock price volatility is a good indicator for forecasting economic growth. The results also show that volatility of both large and small firms can be useful in forecasting economic growth. In addition, volatility of small firms can better predict economic growth. Key words: Stock price information; Volatility; Economic growth; Firm size
I.
Introduction
During the global financial crisis triggered by the US subprime mortgage crisis in 2007, the contrast between the reaction speed of financial decision makers in China and the US has prompted people to rethink the implicit information in the price of financial assets (Zhen, 2012). Using the implicit information in the financial asset price as a predictor of the real economy reflects the following two facts: on the one hand, the implicit information in the financial assets price essentially reflects expectations of market participants' for future economic status. Because of the forward-looking characteristics of financial asset markets, asset prices are often used to predict the growth of real economy (Campbell, 1999; Stock & Watson, 2003; NĂŚs et al., 2011). On the other hand, using asset prices as leading indicators arouse, at least in part, from the instability in the 1970s and early 1980s of forecasting output based on aggregate monetary supply and of forecasting inflation based on the non-expectational) Phillips curve(Stock & Watson, 2003). As an important financial asset, the stock price can be determined by the classical discount cash flow model, which www.theijbmt.com
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